Also, are you implying that the Sheriff’s Department is so fundamentally politicized that the acts or omissions of Sheriff’s Deputies would be affected by my position concerning their boss? I reject that, and have found deputies running the road patrols to be eminently qualified and professional.

Alan’s opinion is the case as well in my county. The Chief Deputy has been found guilty of misdemeanor obstruction of justice, fired, and will lose his Law Enforcement credentials. Last week the Sheriff was indicted for 2 felony counts of obstruction of justice, and the FBI and Federal DOJ are looking into the mismanagement of a federal grant to purchase body armor for the deputies.

But the actual road officers, courthouse security personnel, detectives and jail detention officers are qualified, trained and professional in the execution of their duties. Most deputies are used to the politics involved in who their uber-boss is and their boss will change by decision of the voters. But that doesn’t change the way they do their jobs. Deputies who let politics get in the way of how they enforce the law usually end up getting fired, and that’s how it should be. Nobody above the law, and nobody punished more than another for their political opinion on who the Sheriff might be at any given time. Lincoln County NC Sheriff Tim Daugherty was a Republican, who switched parties to run for Sheriff. I didn’t vote for him, but I’ve gotten to know him well. He put himself above the law, and he’s going to pay for it. I feel sorry for him because he’s actually a good person. But when you’re a Sheriff, you can’t let all that power go to your head and put yourself above the law, or bend it to suit your needs. Tim Howard is no exception to that rule.

Hank is right about the rank and file. I know quite a few deputies on the road patrol, and they are not supporting sheriff Howard for the most part despite what the politicized union recommends. They are upset that they drive worn vehicles with 200K plus miles on patrol while some “favorites” drive brand new suv’s etc. They are angry that during the budget crisis two master mechanics were cut (yet the sheriffs girlfriend who makes 66K as his assistant) and the vehicle maintenence is now done by INMATES in Alden. Think about that liability…. a deputy tries to stop at a light, but the inmate installed brakes don’t work and he/she plows into a family of four. My sources tell me that there have been several instances of vehicles engines seizing up because they forgot to put oil filter gaskets on, brakes not being correctly bled, but caught in the lot etc. Deputies don’t speak out for several reasons, one being the gag order that the Howard admin has issued, and ntwo being that they fear reprisals from what they consider to be vindictive higher-ups.

Sounds like Mike is too poor to have someone else change his oil, or he’s pulling in that min.wage at some discount parts house.

In cars that run continuously like Police Cars, oil filter gaskets can bake themselves to the engine block. And unless you’re paying attention, you can remove and replace a filter and it won’t seal to the block. What’s even more likely is that the inmates just don’t snug the filter up all the way, and oil leaks out very slowly until the engine is out of oil and seizes up. Also, cars with over 200K miles on the engine are just about fried anyway (domestic union produced models, which PD’s use) So inmates may not be to blame.

@John–don’t call the deputies the Rank and File —outside NYS most cops don’t belong to a fucking union.

@Hank – To be honest I wasn’t even aware there was a union connotation to the term, I just meant not appointed personnel.

My point was that they let two master mechanics go to save the girlfriends 66k a year secretary job. IMO inmates shouldn’t be working on police cars under any circumstances. They are so ass-backwards that they cut the mechanics positions, kept one (who got “let go” aka allowed to retire – for stealing tires etc…), hired a new one who was related to a higher-up, and pay 2 deputies to supervise 4 inmates. Christ… it would have been cheaper to just hire back the mechanics. A six sigma blackbelt would stroke out at the waste in the ECSD.

Sorry for coming late to the debate, but my understanding was the Joan Diver search was called off early because former President Clinton was scheduled at the Bills game, so the extra overtime was more important to spend there than it was looking for a murdered housewife in my neighborhood. I think the word is pathetic.

Exactly the point, Alan. Why did they find it necessary to help the Secret Service rather than continue working to help a community in crisis? I live around the corner from the Divers and can only imagine the horror of their experience. Would you prefer “stay-at-home mom?”